Lego record player plays music through special color-coded discs

It might not be the kind of thing you turn on to set the mood for a romantic date, but there is actually a “record player” that someone managed to create using Lego bricks and Lego Mindstorms. In other words, yes, it’s an entire working replica of a record player, built using nothing but Lego parts.

Before you break out the spare Lego parts and your old Beatles albums, though, it doesn’t actually play vinyls. The “records” that it can play are specially coded for the device. Under the hood, there are Lego Mindstorms cameras, which can pick up color patterns on the backside of the record discs.

Musical notes are then played based on these color patterns. Simplistic tunes, like Happy Birthday and Frere Jacques, are some of the pieces programmed to be read by the player. Though those songs won’t really set the mood, it’s something that can play music and it’s made mostly out of plastic bricks. What more do you want?

The level of creativity that has been inspired by the resurgence of Lego in the last few years is nothing short of astonishing. What once was the quintessential “fad toy” that kids would eventually grow out of has become a hotbed for innovation. Some recent examples are the Lego wheelchair, the Lego robot that an astronaut controlled from space, and the ever-ironic Lego robot that can build things on its own. It’s just a short matter of time before the next crazy Lego creation materializes.